AMONG THE BAMBOOS 



and once we were so close that we could catch certain 

 sounds peculiar to elephants as well as hear them 

 tearing branches off trees ; but I was not after 

 elephant. I was not sorry we did not encounter them, 

 because if they turn nasty in a jungle of that kind a 

 man stands very little chance of escaping with his life. 



Camp that night was again amongst the bamboos. 

 Rain was falling fast, and as soon as the sun had set 

 the thermometer dropped like lead. Between the 

 cold and the damp and the stillness of the forest 

 conditions were more than depressing, making one 

 glad to turn in and forget it all for a few hours. 



We had company after a time that night, far more 

 than I wanted. One or two leopards were prowling 

 about and giving vent to their hoarse cough, greatly 

 to the indignation of my little fox-terrier, who, with 

 the courage of ignorance, wished to run out and bark 

 them off. Had she done so her career would have 

 speedily come to an end. 



A very heavy mist was hanging round when the 

 boy brought me my early tea. There was a horribly 

 chill, damp feeling in the air ; and I quite understood 

 the feehngs of the carriers, who wanted to remain 

 beside their fires until the fog had been dispersed 

 by the sun. However, I knew that it was not fog 

 in the regular sense of the term, but a cloud hanging 

 on the mountains, and that a couple of days or more 

 might easily elapse before there was any sort of 



i8i 



